Officials: Minnesota man forgets to log out of Facebook after robbing home

A Minnesota man is being called the "world's dumbest criminal" by the owner of a house that was robbed in South St. Paul last week, WCCO reports.

According to a statement of probable cause issued by the Dakota County District Court, the 26-year-old South St. Paul man checked his Facebook profile from a home he broke into June 19 – and forgot to log off.

The homeowner, James Wood said he came home that day to find his house has been burglarized, and cash, credit cards, his checkbook and watch were missing – but also discovered the man had left a huge clue on his computer: his Facebook profile.

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According to the statement, Wood said he posted something on the man's Facebook profile, saying the man had left some items at his house and gave out his cell phone number. Wood told that he believes the man was under the impression he would give him back some clothes he left at the house in exchange for a recycled cell phone the man had stolen, and agreed to meet him.

Wood eventually spotted the man on the street and police were called to arrest him. In a statement of probable cause issued by the Dakota County District Court, police observed that the man was wearing Wood's missing watch.

"When asked if he had items that did not belong to him, Defendant stated he was going to give everything back," the statement said.

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Dakota County Attorney James Backstrom told WCCO that he's "never seen" a case like this before.

“It’s a pretty unusual case, might even make the late night television shows in terms of not being too bright,” Backstrom says.

The story has already been picked up by KZTV, a station in Corpus Christi, Texas, and billed as a "national news" story.

The Minnesota man's suspected Facebook faux pas isn't the only mistake an alleged criminal has made. The Huffington Post has a Stupid Criminals section on its website, and the blog DumbCriminals.com has an extensive library of stories, separated into more than 30 categories of crimes.

Locally, a suspected robber of a St. Paul CVS pharmacy in February lost his cell phone at the scene. When he called the phone in an attempt to locate the device, it was answered by a police officer who arranged to meet the suspect to return it. When the officers attempted to meet with the man, a high-speed chase ensued, and the suspect was eventually taken into custody.